The Myth of Neutrality in American Sporting Culture

by Ron Briley

Ron Briley reviews books for the History News Network and is a history teacher and an assistant headmaster at Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the author of "The Politics of Baseball: Essays on the Pastime and Power at Home and Abroad."

Sport
is supposedly an avenue of escape in American culture where fans can
seek refuge from the serious political concerns of the day. Ridicule
is often reserved for athletes, invariably on the political left, who
violate the neutrality of sport by introducing elements of protest
and controversy into the games. For example, 1968 Mexico City
Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in
a black power salute and were expelled from the games by the American
Olympic Committee. Muhammad Ali refused conscription into the
military during the Vietnam War; citing his religious convictions and
proclaiming that he had no arguments with the Viet Cong. In
response, Ali was stripped of his heavyweight boxing crown and was
unable to earn his living as a boxer until the Supreme Court
overturned his conviction. In more recent years, baseball player
Carlos Delgado refused to acknowledge the singing of “God Bless
America” in many ballparks following 9/11. On the basketball
court, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson) of the Denver
Nuggets was suspended in 1996 by the National Basketball Association
for refusing to stand during the playing of the National Anthem
before reaching a compromise that allowed him to stand and pray with
his head lowered during the song. A similar controversy occurred in
November 2014 when Dion Waiters of the Cleveland Cavaliers refused to
join his teammates for “The Star Spangled Banner,” asserting that
his Islamic faith made it difficult for him to honor a nation in arms
against his faith. Waiters retracted his statement, but he was
traded and now plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In
more recent days, the supposed tranquility of American sport has been
disrupted due to concerns with violence perpetuated by the police
against black men. In protest of the shooting of Trayvon Martin in
2012 by George Zimmerman, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade got their
Miami Heat teammates to join them in a photograph with all the
players donning hoodies similar to the one Trayvon Martin was wearing
when he was killed. Following the failure of a grand jury in late
November 2014 to indict policeman Darren Wilson for the shooting and
killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson,
Missouri, football players from the St. Louis Rams entered the
playing field with their hands up—a move of solidarity with
protestors asserting that Brown was shot while trying to surrender.
In addition, both professional basketball and football players,
primarily black, appeared in pregame workouts wearing shirts
containing the slogan “I Can’t Breathe”—a reference to the
failure of a New York City grand jury to indict a city policeman for
the choking death of a black man, Eric Garner, for allegedly selling
untaxed cigarettes. Garner was noncompliant but not violent before
he was taken down by police, complaining that he could not breathe.
In the wake of the Brown and Garner killings, protests were held on
the streets and playing fields of the nation.

After
the assassination of two New York City police officers in December
2014, the protest against police brutality has largely disappeared
from America’s games, and sport has apparently resumed its status
as escapist entertainment free from divisive political concerns such
as inequality and racism. Thus, as we enter the championship season
of football at the professional and collegiate levels, controversy is
avoided as we begin the games with military jets flying over
stadiums, military honor guards, public recognition for veterans and
current members of the military along with their families, fireworks
and cannons, the unfurling of gigantic American flags, and the
performance of patriotic songs such as “God Bless America” and
“The Star Spangled Banner.” These opening game ceremonies are
usually accompanied by television broadcasts in which the networks,
sponsors, and announcers proclaim that we are able to enjoy the games
in the comfort of our own homes because we are under the protection
of military personnel stationed in over 700 outposts scattered around
the globe. Invariably, we are shown enthusiastic soldiers watching
the game at American outposts in areas such as Afghanistan. These
images of American exceptionalism linking militarism, patriotism, and
the global reach of American empire with the nation’s sporting
culture are, of course, considered apolitical. The careful
manipulation of patriotic and military symbols in support of consumer
culture and advertising dollars obscure a political agenda in favor
of capitalism, militarism, and empire at the expense of more
humanitarian values.

While
honoring veterans, many of whom have been severely injured in their
service, why can we not also celebrate those peace activists who have
dedicated their lives to eradicating the scourge of war from the
planet? Rather than quarantining them, why not honor the health care
workers and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders who have
risked their lives to battle Ebola in Africa? Why not honor the
heroes of the Civil Rights Movement and those continuing the struggle
for racial equality in this country? Why not commemorate the
environmentalists and scientists fighting the threat of global
warming? Why not proclaim the everyday heroism of teachers and
workers alongside police, fireman, and soldiers? The answer to these
questions is that we have allowed the realm of sport to become the
playground of vested interests and the status quo. Issues of racism,
economic inequality, police brutality, environmental damage, gun
control, and antiwar activities are perceived as controversial,
political, and divisive, while militarism, empire, and American
exceptionalism are construed as fundamental values above debate or
questioning.

Accordingly,
our games and circuses are orchestrated to enforce the political
status quo, and the context in which we play our games are hardly
neutral. As you sit comfortably in front of your television before
the championship game, take a moment to think about the images of
militarism associated with the contest. Athletes are only considered
political when they speak out on racial, social, and economic issues,
but they need to recognize that they are regularly employed by the
government and corporate America in support of militarism,
capitalism, and empire. The games are hardly neutral, and fans, as
well as athletes, should stay vigilant and aware of how sport is
used. Rather than simply embracing militarism, exceptionalism, and
empire, as citizens and athletes we should support a higher
patriotism in which we do not blindly follow the flag into military
expansionism, but rather insist that we honor America by assuring
that the nation adheres to its founding principles. As the Scottish
migrant Frances Wright proclaimed in 1824, in what is believed to be
the first Fourth of July oration by a woman, patriotism is “employed
to signify a lover of human liberty and human improvement rather than
a mere lover of the country in which he lives, or the tribe to which
he belongs. . . . A patriot is a useful member of society, capable
of enlarging all minds and bettering all hearts with which he comes
in contact; a useful member of the human family, capable of
establishing fundamental principles and of merging his own interests,
those of his associates, and those of his nation in the interests of
the human race.” A true neutral playing field.